A new NPR/Marist University national poll found that a majority of Republicans want former President Donald Trump to remain in the 2024 presidential race despite facing dozens of federal charges.
According to the poll, 83 percent of Republicans and 43 percent of all voters think Trump should stay in the race, while 56 percent think he should drop out of the race.
Democrats overwhelmingly believe Trump should quit, with 87 percent and 58 percent of independents saying he should quit.
Lee M. Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, highlighted that Republicans were backing Trump during his legal troubles, while Democrats wanted him to drop out of the 2024 campaign trail.
Miringoff added, “Time will tell if this pattern holds; but for now, Republicans are grounded on where they stand on Trump.”
Special counsel Jack Smith announced last week that a grand jury had decided to indict the former President on 37 counts relating to his mishandling the classified documents after he left the White House in 2021.
On June 9, Smith emphasized that the grand jury had been “voted by a grand jury of citizens in the Southern District of Florida,” while inviting “everyone to read it in full to understand the scope and gravity” of the crimes Trump is being charged with.
“Our laws that protect national defense information are critical to the safety and security of the United States and must be enforced,” Smith continued, adding, “Violations of those laws put our country at risk.”
Trump was arraigned in Miami federal court on Tuesday (June 13) and pleaded not guilty to the charges.
According to a recent poll, 73 percent of Americans think Trump’s actions were “wrong,” and 50 percent thought they were illegal, while 25 percent said he did nothing wrong.
A majority of Democrats, 78 percent, believe Trump broke the law, compared to 50 percent of Republicans and independents.
